AN aviation stakeholder, Alhaji Abdulyekeen Ibn Umar has  commended the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika for relieving the appointments of those brought in from outside their appointments in order to allow career civil servants grow in the system to reposition the agencies.
Umar made this known in an interview with aviation correspondents, while noting sadly that some of these political jobbers bought into the agencies were still in the system and urged  government to visit other parastatals like the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and Nigerian College of Aviation Technology Zaria with a view to carrying out rightful placement.
According to him, it was also time for government to engineer the placement of a substantive managing director of NAMA as the tenure of  the acting managing director of the agency has ended since he is due for retirement.
He said,” In the past, we see that as corruption, when you finish your tenure as a civil servant, you leave for others to continue but they will sit tight looking for avenues to get contract. Why will somebody be waiting in office after clocking the retirement age? The minister must act”
Umar however cheered the strides made by managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN Engr Saleh Dunoma for repositioning the agency through his managerial experience.
According to him, Â power outages have been reduced following the installation of heavy-duty generators capable of running the airport for days.
He said Dunoma was able to achieve this feat because he has been a product of the system.
He urged the government to always look inward in making appointments into aviation parastatals rather than bringing people from outside the system.
Umar noted that in spite of the difficulties in the system, the FAAN boss has continued to carry on with the development of the system as a result of his wealth of experience.
He however urged the government to fight corruption in the system especially in areas of contracts and bidding stressing that throughout last year, no bid was carried out despite calling for people to apply. “We tag it as corruption because that is not how it ought to be done. There was bidding last year but it was not opened to bidders, its corruption”
This is interesting to note also that the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) should not be left out because there exist so many anomalies that is still thriving in the system; the appointment of some staff as AGMs, DGMs and GM since 2012 and some of these issues are before the minister to take action, having said that the placement of Benjamin Okewu (ATSSSAN President) who is a level 12 officer is currently placed above 2 officers in the Bureau who are already on level 14 and due for Level 15 this January 2017. The height and level of incompetency perpetuated by the person in the helms of affair of the bureau still remains an issue that the HON minister of state aviation has to urgently look into.Thanks.